Production of caustic alkali and halogen gas.



No. 687,709. Patented Dec. 3, "DUI.

C. E. ACKEB.

PRODUCTION OF CAUSTIC ALKAL! AND HALOGEN GAS.

(Application filed July 18, 1899.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES IN VE N 70/? W a mwmw 1 [5A TTOBNEY m YHE nonrns wsrzns comorournou WASHINGTON. u c

Nirnn Erarns CHARLES ERNEST ACKER, OF

THE ACKER PROCESS COMPANY,

CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

PRODUCTlON OF CAUSTIC ALKALI ATET rrrcn.

NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO OF NIAGARA FALLS, NEW? YORK, A

AND HALOGEN GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part 72%226. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatLCHARLES ERNEST ACKER, of Niagara Falls, in the countyof Niagara and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in the Production of Caustic Alkali and Halogen Gas, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The object of myinvention is to economize in the production ofpractically anhydrous 1o caustic alkali and halogen gas.

My invention consists in a novel process and also in an improvedapparatus for the purpose.

The accompanying drawingis a longitudinal vertical section of anapparatus for the manufacture of caustic alkali in accordance with myimprovement.

A designates an electrolytic furnace, which 7 may be of any suitableform. As here shown,

it has walls a, which may be made of basic material-as, for example,magnesia. These walls rest upon a hearth ct, which may be of iron orsteel. The furnace is closed by a cover a which may be made offire-clay. This cover rests upon the walls a. In the cover are openingsa through which pass anodes B, preferably made of carbon, the openings abeing, as here shown, considerably larger in diameter than the anodes.Preferably these open- 0 ings will be closed around the anodes byauxiliary covers a preferably made of two parts in the form ofhalf-rings. Above the cover a and in the masonry a of the furnace arecess a is formed, and in this is a body of salt C.

Below the hearth a and communicating with the interior of the furnace Anear one of the end Walls of the latter is a conduit D. Preferably thiswill be cast integral with the hearth a. It extends to the lower portionof a chamber E, and the latter may be a portion of a single castingcomprising the conduit and the hearth. A removable cover e closes thetop of the chamber E, tends down to such cover. A pipe H leads from thebottom of thechamber E and is provided with any suitable device forcontrolling the fiow of its contents from it. As here shown, a removablecap his employed for this and the recess a ex-' purpose. This pipe mayform the negative terminalof the furnace.

From the hearth a is an extension a' forming the bottom of the chamberE. Itwill be seen that the chamber E extends down lower than the furnaceA. A conduit F-establishes communication between the lower ends of theseparts.

Below the chamber E is a well E, with which communicates that end of theconduitD which is not in communication with the furnace A. It will beobserved that this well E is lower than the conduit D.

From the upper portion of the chamber E l a pipe 1 extends. As shown, itis approximately horizontal, but preferably will have a slightdeclinetoward its outer end. The pipe I may advantageously be connectedwith an orifice 0, formed in the upright wall of the chamber E in such amanner as to be lower at the inner surface of the wall than at the outersurface. Caustic alkali collected in the chamberE is intended to escapethrough the pipe I, and by the construction of the orifice O the latterforms a seal to prevent the escape of hydrogen,-which will rise to thetop of said chamber.

A removable cap 1 may close the outer extremity of the pipe I tofacilitate removal of obstructions. A branch pipe 1 extends from thepipe I into a drum U.

. Q designates a conduit of tubular form open at both ends and arrangedvertically within the chamber E and well E at such a height as to be outof contact with the bottom of the well E and also out of contact withthe top or cover of the chamber E. As here shown, this conduit isprovided with a circumferential rib that rests upon the bottom of thechamber E.

R designates a circulator, here shown as made in the form of a screw orworm and arranged in the lower portion of the conduit Q. It is fixed toa shaft R, and the latter is provided with a step-bearing r upon the topof a tube r which is shown as screwed into the cover 2 of the chamber E.Any suitable means may be employed for rotating the shaft R for thepurpose of actuating the circulator. shaft R tor to produce conduit Q.

an upward circulation in the G G designate steam-pipes provided withcontrolling cocks wardly through the g and extendingdowncoverofthechamberEand The steam-pipe G is shown as extending in anapproximately the conduit Q, so that steam issuing therefrom will nothave an important,if any,efI"ect in promoting circulation through theconduit Q.

The steam-pipe G is, however, caused to enter the conduit Q at an upwardincline, so that the steam emitted from it will contribute to cause anupward ci duit Q.

Lead in a molten state may be introduced through one of the openings ain the cover of the main furnace A, through which the anodes B pass, andin quantities sufficientto fill the conduit D and cover the hearth a.One of the anodes will of course temporarily removed for this purpose.mediately afterward the example, sodium chlorid-may be introduced in amolten state. will be replaced turned on.

Through the conduit ber E caustic soda, impoverished alloy, andhydrogen. In the chamber E a separation will occur. return by theconduit F to the mai Where it will again act as a cathod up sodium.

Hydrogen passes from the chamber E through a K, whence it ascends towhich also'leads an air-pipe K, the latter being controlled by a valve70 terminating within the chamber is in a nozzle E The mixture of gasesburns in the auxiliary furnace L, into which the salt which is to bedecomposed in the main furnace A is fed through and the full n furnace,e and take pipe V into a pipe with its removable The direction of therotation of the is to be such as to cause the circulahorizontaldirection into rculation through the conhave to be salt employed-forThen the removed anode current Q flow-to the cham- Impoverished alloy orlead will the upper portion of a chamber 715, into be at any Ohlorin itP and portion of the main furnace A.

The contents of the well E may time removed through the pipe H. gas willescape through the condu pipe p.

The contents of the furnace A are to be maintained molten and fluid. hetemperature necessary to secure this condition will preferably bemaintained by a suitable electric-current density on the anode or anodesand cathode with a higher electromotive force than would ordinarily berequired to decompose the molten salt.

It will be seen that there will be a circula tion continuously in thesame direction through an endless circuit comprising two branches beingthe the electrolyte, and the other the conduit D and its connections;also, that steam is introduced into the circulation, so that alkalimetal will be oxidized during transit and also that such circuit orcirculation is past one or more anodes.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In the manufacture of fused caustic alkali the process which consists inelectrolytically decomposing a molten salt of alkali metal while restingon a body of molten lead constituting a cathode, and thereby forming analloy of lead and the alkali metal, circulating the molten body ofcathode metal and alloy past an anode or anodes toward another moltenbody of lead or oflead and alloy, introducing steam into the last-namedmolten body below its surface, and regulating the circulationbymeansindependentof the steam.

I have signed my I name to this specification twosubscribing Witnesses.

CHARLES ERNEST ACKER.

lVitnesses:

W. LAIRD GOLDSBOROUGH, GEORGE HENRY RAYMOND.

